Ready for Global Power Shift in Istanbul!

Next week, I will attend Global Power Shift in Istanbul, Turkey, a major summit dedicated to building a global youth movement to solve the climate crisis. Out of more than five-thousand young people from all over the world who applied to attend the Global Power Shift Summit, 500 participants were selected from 133 different countries.

I am already excited about this upcoming week full of inspiration, creativity and ambition within such a diverse group of young people who will not only share their personal experiences with climate change in their regions but also work on common ideas to meet this biggest challenge of our generation.

The five-day summit will be a showcase for the strategies and tactics behind many of the most successful social movements and campaigns of the last few years. During the summit, youth activists will share organising strategies, learn about innovative online tools, map out new climate campaigns, and hear from environmental leaders and activists from around the world such as Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein or Kumi Naidoo.

After the summit in Istanbul, participants will return to their home countries to help organise national Power Shift summits, mobilisations, and other climate campaigns in order to spark an unprecedented wave of events and mobilisations for powerful climate action around the globe. In this regard, I am already looking forward to being part of an ambitious and connected civil society movement in Austria where climate activism is especially important in the face of the disappointing climate policies of environmental Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich and his predecessors.

Global Power Shift is being organised by the international climate campaign 350.org, with support from partner organisations Avaaz, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, and others. 350.org is named after 350 parts per million, what many scientists consider is the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Share the Story

About the Author

Andreas Lindinger is a Vienna-based business consultant, sustainability expert and urban thinker passionate about livable cities, sustainable transportation, renewable energy and civic engagement. Andreas offers a transdisciplinary business, finance and sustainability background, industry expertise in energy, mobility and environmental consulting and broad international experience gained in Vienna, Vancouver, Berlin and Dublin. Make sure to also check out Vienncouver.com and to follow @lindinger on Twitter.